I am confused. I have worked with a lot of screenplay writing resources but they all seem geared towards feature film writers. I don't understand how TV writing works.

The vague allusion I'm getting is that people write maybe a pilot, and a lot of other data for a series, and then a team of writers develops episodes along the way.

Is this true and always the case, or is this more of a sitcom thing? Frankly if this is how it works I am disappointed and a bit angered. Is there ever a series writer who sets out with a clear conclusion to a series and writes a set number of episodes knowing when it will absolutely end, and the show has that one and only writer from start to finish?

If this is how it works why haven't we got on to the problem here? Sitcoms and action series keep going till the characters are not interesting and the plots make no sense and then fade into oblivion. Wouldn't it be better if we knew where a conclusion would be and ended it all on a good note instead of driving the ship into the ground?

Actually, a lot of anime shows (Japanese animated tv shows) have a clear end point and only a set number of shows or seasons. So it's not completely unheard of.

Unfortunately, American tv is usually so run by whoever is paying for it that they milk it for as long as it pays. The reality is that, with the way our tv system is set up, the content on tv will always take a backseat to the advertising which pays for it. Maybe cable is the solution to have more creative freedom but I don't really know.

As for who writes the show and how much they write, I'm not really clear on it myself, but i suspect it changes from show to show. I know a lot of tv shows have a bunch of writers, who may work as a team, or take turns writing the majority of different episodes. Like most of making movies or tv: it's a team effort and rarely does the job get done by only one person.

I think generally one person, or a small team, develops the show and the ideas, gets the bones down on paper, and often a team of writers will come in after the show's been picked up to clean up the script and hash out little details. Some of it is about the economics and politics of television, but when you look at the format I think it kind of makes sense. Television isn't just one script that you take your time meticulously perfecting - you have to constantly be coming up with new ideas and creating new scenarios. It would be really easy for a single writer to get burned out really quickly, and networks don't want to take the chance of that one person getting writer's block (or getting the flu and having to take a few weeks off, or suddenly veering off in a totally different direction, etc. etc.). Think about it, we're taking a month to get really rough versions of our pilots written and it's exhausting- at that pace it would take two years to write a season's worth of shows! A lot of times, the original creator of the story will kind of head up the writing team, but at some point one person just can't do it all.

As far as story, there are some shows that have set conclusions, and I think they're becoming more prevalent. The problem, of course, is that a network can't guarantee the ratings (and thus, the financial viability) of a show in the first few episodes, but once it's clear that a show is successful you can plan for an end date. Shows like Lost and Battlestar Galactica have done this (in both cases, however, the end date was decided midway through the series). Lost's creators have said that they knew from the beginning how everything was going to end, while the BSG team developed the story as they went, but knew they didn't want to stretch it out forever. I've noticed that it tends to happen much more with very plot-driven shows; character-based dramas and sitcoms can drag on as long as they want because there is no real conclusion to those stories. This kind of story development isn't the norm (yet) but it's becoming more common.

And, of course, this kind of structure isn't the norm everywhere. Most British series, for example, have a set run of just one or two seasons (Dr. Who notwithstanding...). Worldwide, most shows actually don't just run on and on until they fizzle out.

So don't get discouraged. The whole nature of television writing really is changing, with more shows having set plot-based endings and writers pushing back to have more creative freedom in how they work.

Of course this may vary from show till show but this is how it generally goes in American television:

- the writer somehow (networking) gets a pitch session with the network executives who will decide what series are put on the air next season. He (She) will pitch several shows until one sticks and the writer orders a pilot script or until the get thrown out of the door. Usually the network will ask for a general idea of where the show will be going in a few years time but the plot lines can and will change (what if the audience inexpectably likes the villain? Turn him good and keep him! Or like someone mentioned: adding extra seasons will change the story arch)

- the pilot script is written and the network executives filter through the pile to see which ones they want to actually see the pilot for.

- once the script is shot, if the series gets picked up the original writer will usually become the executive producer for that show: the person in charge of all things creative (but the network can and will at all times overrule him). In recent years networks have gotten into the habbit to find an experienced writer they have under contract to take the helm along with the newer writer to protect the show. If the executive producer doesn't suffice or doesn't play nice with the network, but the show is a hit, he might be replaced. Otherwise he could mean the downfall of the series.

- a writer room is filled, depending on the show the size of the room can vary. Drama shows might go with fewer writers and hire a lot of free-lancers (pushes down the short term costs), sit-com rooms will usually start out fully staffed (think ten people).

A drama script is generally developed by a single person (or team) who usually pitches the script (but could be assigned someone else's idea), fleshes out the plot, then writes out the script. In between stages the room or the show's executive producer will make changes and improvements.

A sitcom script starts out the same but is usually a lot less fleshed out when it reaches the room, and then the entire writers room gangs up on the script and adds gags. Usually little remains of the first draft (unlike a drama script) and the result is much more of a colaborative effort.

Afterwards the network gets a final pass.

This means most of the time a writer will write two or three episodes in a full season. Some writers will write more and some scripts will be written by freelance writers but that's an average.

Of course this varies. In the UK it's more customary for a single writer or a small group of writers to write the entire season (this is made possible in part because of seasons often are much shorter - 6 episode seasons are no exception).

I just wrote more for this post than I have so far for my script :)

As has been said it varies from production to production with different producers and writing teams working in different ways.

Sitcoms, particularly in the US are written ‘think tank style’

What that means is that a writers room of comedy writers by the shows producers and collectively they’ll come up with ideas for episodes, stories and characters. Episodes will then be assigned to individual writers (usually by the head writer or an executive producer) and they’ll go away and write what’s described as a bare bones script. Essentially that will be a script that tells the story and gets them through the running time. This script is then taken back to the room where the rest of the writers will rip it apart add jokes and build upon it until they have a finished episode. The writer(s) who wrote the bare bones script is then given the written by credit.

What you’ll also see a lot of in television is ‘story by’ and ‘teleplay by’ credits. Essentially what that usually means is that in the room someone came up with a story for an episode that was then assigned to another writer so two separate credits are given.

In drama things tend to work slightly differently in that there is less ‘think tank’ writing.

Usually what will happen is that a head writer/executive producer will assemble a writing staff they feel comfortable with and they’ll all meet to discuss characters and stories ideas. The writers are then assigned episodes after that meeting and will write their episode and then submit it to the head writer and producers who will make sure it fit’s the overall tone of the show and that the characters aren’t doing or saying anything massively out of character. Also costing and timing issues come into play a lot at this stage with dramas, where scenes will have to be rewritten or cut because they’re too expensive or there simply isn’t time to shoot them and do them justice. Some shows will also have scenes, stories and episodes rewritten to lighten an actors workload.

During the second season of Veronica Mars for example Rob Thomas inserted a new subplot into the series to cut down on the amount of work Kristen Bell was asked to do because he felt they were overworking and overexposing her.

Once everyone is relatively happy with the scripts from a production and timing point of view script editors will assemble all of the scripts and go through them looking primarily for continuity errors that have flown under the radar at this point. The same character with two completely different histories or one week saying their afraid of heights and two weeks later going skydiving. When that’s done the scripts go into production. But usually on scripted drama the show’s main storylines are created and crafted by the head writer and executive producers who then pass on what they want to the writing team.

It isn’t however unheard of for one writer to write a show by themselves. Aaron Sorkin is infamous for not working well with other writers. He wrote the first four seasons of The West Wing by himself and the majority of Studio 60 episodes were written by him as well. With The West Wing his writing team were essentially researchers who would present him with facts and story ideas that he would then write.

The way that Heroes works is also worth mentioning as its unique to television.

The writing team are all assigned a character or two related characters to write for across the entire season - so one person will write Hiro and Ando’s storyline for the year and another person will write Claire and when two characters storylines merge the writers will then share the workload. What then happens is that these character scenes are submitted to the writer who is assigned an episode and then edit and rework them to make a coherent episode and will get the written by credit.

I didn't know that about Veronica Mars. That's really interesting. I loved that show and hated when it was canceled.

I'm writing a sitcom in the British style, meaning it will have a short season (about six episodes) and will all be written by myself and my writing partner. IMO, this is why Brit shows are so often better than American sitcoms, because over here we do such long seasons and have such a big writing team...it's just too hard to write 24 great episodes. In fact, producers assume that 1/4 of the episodes (or about 6 of them) will be fairly mediocre. They aim for 1/4 of the episodes to be great, 1/2 to be average, and know 1/4 just won't be all that good.